MANDEL: Sister says Daniella Mallia would be alive if not for police inaction

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Toronto Police should have saved her sister.

Daniella Mallia, 23, was in fear of her ex-boyfriend Dylon Dowman. He’d been sending her increasingly threatening messages and she knew he was capable of violence. So she did what women in her situation are advised to do — she reached out to police.

And they failed her. Three days later, she was dead.

Const. Anson Alfonso, the more senior of the two officers who responded to her call on Aug. 15, 2022, was found guilty of misconduct Tuesday under the Police Act and demoted for 18 months to a second-class constable. He was also ordered to complete further training.

Mallia’s older sister Amille Ingram was sitting in the disciplinary hearing room at police headquarters to witness the final chapter of their family tragedy.

“I absolutely, positively believe if their actions were done with empathy, professional conduct and genuine concern, I believe my sister would definitely be alive and happy sitting here beside me,” Ingram said fiercely.

“It was very preventable. She was genuinely scared and this was a cry for help. The situation was not handled well at all.”

When Alfonso and partner Const. Sang Youb Lee spoke to the frightened woman outside of her apartment building, she told them she believed Dowman was going to kill her. But she didn’t want him charged because she didn’t want to see another Black man go to jail and she was afraid of what he would do to her if they arrested him.

It wasn’t up to her, though. Police were required to charge him with the evidence they had.

Despite his terrifying threats on her phone — “You still breathing ’cause I say so. Don’t f— with me,” he texted. “Ain’t no coming back from death. Your done (sic). I promise you that” — the officers dismissed her fears as a “he said, she said” situation, cautioned her and even accused her of instigating the dispute.

They spent 39 minutes speaking with Mallia and just three minutes on the phone with the man she feared.

Alfonso later emailed Mallia with a warning: “This is a written caution to (cease) all forms of contact with him and move on with your life. Failing to do so you can get arrested. Both you and Dylon are subjects to criminal harassment.”

Three days later, Dowman pulled Mallia into a North York underground parking garage and after four minutes of listening to her beg for her life, he coldly shot her in the head. Earlier this year, the 35-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to an automatic life term.

Both Lee and Alfonso were charged with misconduct-related offences for taking “no action to protect” Mallia despite having evidence to arrest Dowman for uttering threats. Lee pleaded guilty to neglect of duty and was demoted for one year.

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Alfonso, a cop since 2019, pleaded guilty, “though not at the earliest opportunity,” but otherwise had a clean record, Supt. Shane Branton said.

“The victim of intimate partner violence called police for help. Instead of receiving the help that she should have received, she was cautioned and not provided the required level of service that the public expects,” said Branton.

“He failed to meet the standard of conduct expected of him by the victim, the community, the service and his peers.”

Ingram said she saw no signs of emotion from Alfonso, though she’s been told they’ll receive his letter of apology.

In addition to the demotion, Ingram would have liked to have seen Alfonso be forced to volunteer with domestic violence victims to gain a better understanding of what her sister was going through. As Branton said, “Any progress that has been made in building relationships between the police and the community and the victims of intimate partner violence has been severely damaged by Const. Alfonso’s actions.”

Three years have passed and her grieving sister still can’t speak about Daniella in the past tense.

“My sister is the sweetest person you will ever meet. She’s friendly, she’s funny, she loves animals. It’s so sad that her life was cut short because I believe she was developing into somebody so wonderful,” she said, her voice breaking. “My sister cried for help and needed his assistance.”

Instead, he callously turned away.

mmandel@postmedia.com